How To Check Christmas Lights With A Multimeter

In some cases a faulty power plug is the main culprit for the absence of the current in the string of lights and identifying this problem early can save you a lot of time.

How to check christmas lights with a multimeter.

You will end up having two probes plugged in the multimeter. In one of the female socket insert one of your multimeter probes. After the setup is correctly followed a forward voltage drop will be displayed. Sometimes a couple of bulbs or the entire light string doesn t light up when you plug the cord into a power outlet.

Place the probes of your digital multimeter at both ends of the power plug. Only measure resistance with circuit de energised you and your dmm don t like volts applied. A decent mid range multimeter will likely cost between 50 100 usd. The joy of a beautifully lit home can quickly turn to frustration when a burned out bulb or two render an entire string of lights dark.

But this doesn t always happen. The unit of resistance is ohm symbol ω. A multimeter provides a convenient way quickly to find the dead bulbs that will need to be replaced in order to restore your holiday decorations to their fully lit glory. How does it work.

Set up the multimeter to measure the resistance in your christmas tree lights by following the manufacturer s instructions. When this happens use a non contact voltage detector to determine exactly which light bulb is faulty. To test led lights you will need a multimeter with a diode setting. Christmas lights are wired to stay lit even if one of the bulbs burns out.

In this section we ll see how to test leds and measure resistance. On the male plug touch the remaining multimeter probe into one of the prongs. Check online or at your local hardware store for mid to high range multimeters which are more likely to have this feature than inexpensive models.